


Broken Bottles

by realfunyarinpa



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Conspiracy, I Made Myself Cry, M/M, Please Don't Kill Me, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, hello darkness my old friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:09:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfunyarinpa/pseuds/realfunyarinpa
Summary: Junpei is introduced to alcohol for the first time. It's all downhill from there.





	1. First

His fingertips were dipped in steel, pulling him down to the earth. Junpei prayed with an ocean tongue and an overflowing mind that he may be swallowed by this scornful world. His legs, the perpetual motion machine, trudged on. Legs had no sensibility to them, after all. They didn’t know when to quit. The rest of Junpei had quit, but yet he found himself lurching onto a cracked leather stool amidst a handful of people. 

People. Junpei remembered when he had been a person. Before he died, and died, and died and died, he had breathed just like the rest of them. But it has been a half a year now and he was still in purgatory.

“Hey, I know you! You’re the hero! The one who saved everyone from that death game, right?”

A death game. Yes, he supposed that was the best way to put it. He knew of death. Deadness consumed his soul. And the game… he had been played. The word hero was synonymous with joke.

“Hey, don’t look so dull. Why don’t you have as many drinks as you want, on the house!”

A tinted glass bottle slid across the tarnished wood towards Junpei. Leaden fingers laid at his side as he watched it shatter and sink between the cracks in the floorboards. The bartender decided to take matters in his own hands, lifting Junpei’s arm and placing the beer in his hand. Solemn silence turned to vehement repulsion as his face wrinkled into a disgusted expression. 

“Ah, it’s an acquired taste, but if you drink enough of it, it’ll bring you happiness!”

Junpei spit back at his benefactor, “The only way I’ll be happy is if Akane Kurashiki is by my side.” Love so powerful it turned to hate. Death so she could live. There was obvious dissent emanating from Junpei, and it needed to be appeased lest he end up like the beverage between the floorboards.

“You know, if you get drunk enough, you see what you want to see. If this Akane is what you want to see… she might make an appearance.”

That was enough. The possibility was enough. Bottle after bottle after bottle brought feeling back to Junpei’s arms and loosened his tongue. And suddenly, in the window, there she was.

Akane Kurashiki Akane Kurashiki Akane Akane Akane KANNY. Finally those legs were useful as he ran and leapt and screamed until his throat was raw from jubilation. The frozen love in his eyes melted into tears as he followed her visage to his front door. And then, like ashes in the wind, gone.

She had slipped through his goddamn fingers. He wanted to make them pay. He needed to make them bleed. Crushing the bottle he still had in his hands, Junpei watched as his skin broke and glass sunk into his flesh. It was a familiar feeling. Comfortable, even. Maybe it was time for more familiarity.

Wincing as the rusty knobs dug into his open wounds, Junpei climbed into the tub clothes and all. He didn’t want his body to be discovered naked, after all. If anyone even cared enough to find it. Blood generously flowed into the water, making red clouds that danced downwards as the water came up to his neck. Suddenly, hesitation. After all, drowning was the least favorable end Junpei had met. Jumping out of the water, he laid on the ground, soaked. With any luck, the water would prevent the blood from staining, and this night would be a relic of the past.

He didn't even remember sleeping. Damp clothes, fuzzy memories, but most importantly, a recollection of her face. He had seen her last night. Nothing else mattered. He had seen Akane Kurashiki. As he dried himself off, he resolved to do this every night until she was finally by his side forever.


	2. Second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My motives are complex

Brushing his long, blonde hair out of his face, the bartender slipped out the back door of the bar and watched as Junpei pursued an intoxicated hallucination. Drunken customers running out of the bar screaming usually did not require any phone calls to his superior, but this was a special case. Left had fulfilled his mission as a bartender. The "hero" officially had a substantial chink in his armor. 

"Oh holy Brother, the first step in our sacred mission is complete. Never again will Tenmyouji Junpei interfere with Free The Soul."

A self satisfied chuckle warmly greeted Left from the other end of the line. His master was pleased with him! Surely he would be richly rewarded in the new world.

"Mind hacking him to get him to the bar was easy enough. How you managed to get him addicted without my assistance is impressive. After only one visit, too. I would have thought it would take many tries for Junpei to become an alcoholic."

Brother's smooth, confident voice brought a wide smile to Left's face. All of these days of suffering, having to converse with humans and pretend to care about their needs, were finally paying off. 

"He's vulnerable, Brother. He also appears to have an addictive personality. It would probably be easy to get him addicted to something else."

Perhaps he was being a little forward, but if he could pull it off, a drug and alcohol addicted Junpei would certainly please brother immensely! After all, what else could he be addicted to.

"Oh really...? Do you think you could make him your plaything, then?"

Distress overcame Left as he nearly dropped the phone. Myrmidons were not permitted to have any relations with humans, no matter how good it was supposed to feel. Brother had said so himself! Yet the thought of getting the chance made him tremble in anticipation.

"Brother, are you truly asking me to commit sinful acts with an unclean human? Is this some sort of test?"

He prayed that Brother would not come to his senses now.

"It is a test in your obedience to me. Go and ruin Tenmyouji Junpei."

Before Brother could change his mind, Left hung up the phone and rejoiced. He would get to have SEX! It was finally time to see what all of these humans found so exciting about these worldly pleasures. What a story to tell his underlings this would be. Except... he sort of didn't quite understand how sex worked. Maybe it was time to use his connections with all of these worthless humans to get some experience before the real deal. Purely for the integrity of the mission, of course.


	3. Third

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, consent is important to me.

Empty. 

Nobody in the bar but Junpei and the bartender. Not that he minded. The solemn solitude was tranquil. It let Junpei drown his sorrows in peace. At least, until he had one too many and the bartender started pestering him.

"Let me walk you home. You're too drunk, I'm cutting you off."

Junpei attempted to stand up and protest, but found himself stumbling and banging his elbow on the bar. Before he realized what was going on, the bartender dragged him to his home, his hot breath against Junpei's neck. Occasionally his hand would brush where it was not supposed to, but Junpei gave the bartender the benefit of the doubt. When he finally arrived, Junpei attempted to pull away from the pushy benefactor to no avail. He was far too strong for Junpei to feel safe. And then, the breaking point. The wandering hands found a resting place, and there was no more doubt for the lewd bartender to benefit from. In response to this violation, Junpei found himself chuckling. 

"You really are bad at your job." With a twist, Junpei had the upper hand. Specifically, he had his upper hand around the spy’s throat, squeezing it just enough for it to be uncomfortable. 

Of course, covers had to be maintained. The traitor gasped out, "Are you... into this sort of thing?” 

More laughter as Junpei began to squeeze with more force. Somehow, he was smiling at this bleak situation. Maybe he was into this sort of thing? "If you're trying to fool a detective, maybe learn a little about consent. I'm DRUNK! In case you didn't realize. Oh.... wait! You supplied the alcohol!" He traced Left's face with his free hand, smirking. Whatever moisturizer the backstabber had, he wanted it. His skin was delightful to stroke. "Should have gotten some roofies too. I'm drunk, but not stupid." 

He might have been scared, but these followers of Brother were relentless. Violence was probably the only solution. Junpei sighed and turned the “bartender’s” face so he could examine it with more scrutiny. His eyes were an unearthly blue, and his short, frantic breaths made Junpei’s heart pound as he trembled in excitement."Listen, you're cute and all. Trust me, I am flattered that Free The Soul wants a piece of my ass!"

"FREE THE SOUL?! I mean... what's free the soul? Free whose soul? Who's Brother?" The cult follower was clearly distressed, and Junpei hadn’t even gotten to the torture yet. Free the Soul was an absolute joke. Almost as much of a joke as how handsome this man was…

"Thanks for the booze." Abruptly, Junpei forced his tongue into his victim’s mouth. Letting go of his throat, he ran his fingers through his glossy blonde hair while he sighed on his lips. Perhaps this seduction had succeeded after all. Pulling away, Junpei breathily whispered in his seductor’s ear. "Now, get out before I have to shoot you.”

The natural born kisser just stood there with wide eyes and shaky legs, dumbfounded by the rapid passion and danger. Junpei couldn’t shoot him. Junpei LUSTED for him. With knowledge in his eyes, the other man began to make an advance towards him.

"You idiot." Without hesitation, Junpei shot him between the legs. "Good thing I'm talented at hitting small targets. Now, shoo." Screaming in agony, the almost lover fled.

He had kissed a man. And not just any man. The enemy. Junpei had shared a passionate, lusty moment with the enemy. Up until this point, he wasn’t even aware he had lust. What a shameful way for passion to be awakened, by the very one Junpei swore to hate. Unsure of what to do about his newfound desires and self-loathing, Junpei crossed his legs, stroked his lips, and sobbed. Could anyone ever want him as more than a means to an end?


	4. Fourth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this little story! It might not be much, but it was fun to write.

Left awoke with the freshly sewn scars of surgery still stinging, and a familiar face looking down at him. Was this his end? He had failed his mission, but yet they had sewn him up. Perhaps they planned to fully recover him and then rip him limb by limb.

“Before you further distress yourself, let me assure you, my motives were complex in this. You may not have made him your own, but you have awakened desires he did not realize he had. For now, I retire you of your mission. Recover yourself.”

The clone attempted to bow, but it ended up like more of a grunting flail. Brother was too kind. “O holy Brother, if I may ask, am I punished?”

Patting him on the head, Brother smiled down upon him. “Of course not. Everything went according to plan. Actually, far better. I expected him to kill you. Gold star for surviving.”

Left was so bold as to smile back. He had succeeded expectations! Surely he would be rewarded gloriously in the new world! “May I be so bold as to ask what you will do next, most reverent Brother?”

Stroking his receding hairline, a thoughtful look lit up Brother’s purple eyes. “To speed up the process, I will pay off some of the prostitutes in his area to pursue him. He will soon have his fill, and Kurashiki Akane’s hero will be soiled beyond recognition. You have done well.”

* * *

After everything that had transpired, Junpei found himself willingly going back to the very same bar. In the back of his mind, he had the dreadful hope that his enemy had survived and that he would be back there, waiting for him. However, when he arrived and a new bartender was there, he found himself let out a gasping sigh of relief. 

Surveying the bar, the crowd seemed somewhat normal, minus a shirtless reclining gentleman with his bare feet resting on the table. He was pretty sure the rules for the bar were "no shoes, no shirt, no service," yet this man failed all the criteria and still was enjoying a glass of red wine. Infuriated, Junpei decided to intervene. 

"Uh, excuse me. Do you think it's okay to just walk around without a shirt on? If a woman did that, everyone would lose their minds, you know! That's... you're... so..."

The man stood up abruptly and looked down upon Junpei's small figure with a malicious smirk."You have a beef with me, we take it out back."

Terrified for his life, Junpei recalled his basic detective training as he walked out the back door, clutching the holster of his gun. The terror only heightened when the brutish man whispered in his ear, "Why don't we go to your place and settle this in bed?"

Junpei stood there, contemplating the pros and cons in his head while the lusty stranger roughly grabbed his hair. Isn't this what he had wanted? Someone who wanted him authentically? Even if it was just for a one night stand... maybe it could turn into more. Yes, that was it. And besides, when he found Akane, he would be experienced! Girls didn't like a virgin, after all. And the man in front of him... and the feeling inside him... everything felt right.

Tossing his full beer bottle on the cement, Junpei leapt into the stranger's arms. He walked away, treading on the broken bits of glass while the liquid slipped between the cracks. 

 


End file.
